Saturday, 27 June 2015

The Shiro Collection - DimSum Festival, Bangalore

Some of the top brands of restaurants, pubs and lounges are an offering of JSM Corp. Right from Hard Rock Cafe, to Ginger Tiger, California Pizza Kitchen, Shiro are just to name a few. DimSums are my favourite and it's rarely that I make a meal out of dimsums. On till the 7th of July is this lovely showcase of 'The Shiro Collection' of DimSums.

With over 40 DimSums on the specially designed menu, there is a plenty on offer for both vegetarian and non-vegetarians. Elevating the experience is the beautiful setting/ambiance, service and the variety of tea served complimentary. The evening for us was an elaborate affair that started with two wonderful variants of the mojito; one was orange and the other was fig mojito. At first I was skeptical to try a variant for previous not so good experiences around Bangalore but here, both the mojito variants were really refreshing, no bottled flavors were added and the marriage of the flavors was beautiful. These are a set of cocktails I will definitely repeat on my future visits.

Shortly arrived two baskets of assorted dumplings - one vegetarian and another with non-vegetarian dumplings. It was a great way to go ahead with tasting the offerings on the menu. The non-vegetarian basket came with the following dimsums -

- Har Gao: Simplicity is at the heart of this har gao; good chunks of prawns and brilliantly light and translucent casing to hold them all together. The prawn filling was perfectly cooked and filled in good measure to allow to be eaten in one go.

- Chicken & Sichuan Pepper Dumpling: Clearly the Sichuan pepper was the star addition to this dumpling giving it the a nice lingering after taste of the Sichuan pepper.

- SuiMai: Prawn Sui Mai was delicate and flavors were well balanced. The filling was fabulous and generous.

- Prawn & Asparagus Dumpling: This was a very light and refreshing combination with both the prawn and asparagus adding a nice crunch to the delicate texture of the dimsum wrapper.

The flow of dimsums didn't seem to end but at this time we thought of pairing them with Sublime tea which has partnered with Shiro in curating a wonderful Yum Cha experience of sorts. Brilliant aroma on the nose, crisp notes and a lingering finish were traits of two varieties (Rose in Bloom and Jasmine Mandarin) of Sublime tea that we sipped for the rest of the evening in the company of more dim sums. I loved the tea and have ordered my quota of the tea bags from Sublime's website.

Our date with dim-sums continued with the arrival of some new entrants-

- Prawn Nest dumpling: It was art on a plate that required the technique, talent and skill to prepare. The casing was like fibre; a result of the use of potato and starch fried with a prawn filling. This was really heavy and I could not afford another one for the sheer spread of dim-sums that were yet to arrive. The XO sauce came as a condiment which was well prepared too.

- Chicken Pearl Dumpling: This was a chicken dumpling flavoured with the five spice powder and oyster sauce. Rolled as a ball with Sticky Jasmine rice, this was my least preferred dumpling by taste due to the over powering essence and taste of the star anise and the missing flavor of the oyster sauce that I love.

To my surprise, the vegetarian dumpling too had a host of selection to choose from. From the various we tried, what my dining companion enjoyed the most were-

- Chi Chow Fried Dumpling

- Pak choi & Water Chestnut Dumpling

- Vegetable Nest Dumpling

Our evening continued with 3 steamed delicacies-

- Silken Tofu with Mustard XO: Steamed slices of silken tofu topped with a delicious mustard sauce was a delight combination of texture and flavor.

- Prawn with Thai herb sauce: The succulent prawns were steamed in and quoted with a Thai herb sauce. Indeed succulent and flavourful.

- Pork ribs with sweet chili and black bean sauce: Easily the best pork ribs I have ever eaten. The pork itself fell of the bone without second thoughts. It was so soft that the bone remained clean and clear effortlessly. The smokiness of the pork married fabulously with the sweet chili and black bean sauce.

Not very fond of desserts that too after a scrumptious dim-sum meal we were in no mood for desserts and instead continued to sip the 'Jasmine Mandarin' offering from sublime tea. It was a meal that had us really content and left us feeling easy even after an overload of dim-sums. The menu also includes steamed fish wrapped in lotus leaf, steamed bao and the likes.

For those who'd love to try a varied range of the dim-sum offerings at Shiro can go in for a basket of 9 varieties of dim-sums which is priced at Rs. 1900 plus taxes and charges. The portion is good to be shared between 2 - 3 diners and can be enjoyed with portions of Sublime tea which come complimentary to complete the Dim-Sum experience. On till 7th July, do head here if you'd love to have a YumCha experience.